Venezuela electoral body suspends referendum drive, opposition fumes

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro attends a rally to commemorate the National Day of Indian Resistance in Caracas, Venezuela October 12, 2016. Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS


CARACAS Venezuela's electoral council on Thursday night suspended the next phase of a recall referendum against unpopular President Nicolas Maduro, drawing fire from the opposition.


Citing court orders, the electoral body said a signature drive planned for next week was suspended. Earlier on Thursday, Venezuelan ruling party officials said regional courts in at least four states had voided the opposition's drive, which they say has been plagued with fraud.


The opposition blasted the decision as an undemocratic move designed to dodge a vote against the Socialist president, who polls show would lose a plebiscite amid an economic crisis in the OPEC country that has food running short and inflation in triple digits.


"We have a government of thieves using power to maintain itself," opposition lawmaker Jorge Millán said on Twitter. "But in the street the people are demanding a recall, and no one will stop us!"


Maduro, who was elected to replace the popular Hugo Chavez in 2013 after his death, has seen his ratings fall by half to just over 20 percent. His government had already said there will be no recall referendum this year.


The timing is key because under Venezuela's constitutional rules, should Maduro lose a referendum next year, his vice president would take over rather than there being a new election, dashing the opposition's hopes of ending 17 years of socialism.


Maduro's rivals say that by closing off a democratic solution to the crisis, the government is stoking chances of unrest in violent Venezuela.


"The government is pushing a very dangerous scenario in which the crisis worsens," opposition leader Henrique Capriles said on Twitter.


Earlier this week, Venezuela's election board delayed election for state governorships to 2017 from December, giving the government more breathing room before going to the polls..


(Reporting by Corina Pons; and Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Peter Cooney)

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